Carbon County will get $85,000 in state money to build four more rental cabins at Mauch Chunk Lake Park and do landscaping work at the park and along the Switchback Gravity Railroad, officials announced Monday. Also, Lehighton will get an $81,987 grant for work along Lehigh Canal. The grants were among $1.3 million in state funding for 16 Pennsylvania Conservation Corps projects announced on Monday by state Labor and Industry Secretary Johnny J. Butler. Cabins at the park, which hold as many as six people, have become more popular than traditional camp sites and routinely are booked on weekends from mid-April through the end of October.

The members of the Northampton County Detachment of the Marine Corps League were recently inducted into the Legion of Honor, Chapel of Four Chaplains, at the Harmony Presbyterian Church in Harmony, N.J. They are Johnny Gill of Allentown; Louis Moyer Sr. of Forks Township, and Kevin Williams of Bethlehem. The award recognizes exceptional selfless service by an individual who contributes to the wellbeing of a community and to a spirit of interfaith cooperation. It memorializes the four Army chaplains who gave their life jackets to others and honors the 672 men who perished when the troop ship USS Dorchester was torpedoed in the North Atlantic in 1943.

Just imagine the treasures found on the Treasure Island Reservation along the Delaware River. Pennsylvania Conservation Corps workers Jeremiah Cook (foreground), Larry Gallagher (center) and Ron Nuss were among 20 corps members yesterday who repaired docks and rebuilt stairs damaged in the winter floods. Treasure Island is owned by the Cradle of Liberty Council of Boy Scouts of America.

The Phantom Regiment's color guard wasted no time. As musical instruments and color guard flags were being unloaded from the drum corps tour bus, parked outside Allentown's J. Birney Crum stadium Saturday morning, the 35-member color guard already was beginning its long day on a nearby practice field. The group's choreographer, Michael James, of Tampa, Fla., led the color guard in a series of dance steps, set to dance music. It's just past 10 a.m., a full 11 hours before the corps, based in Rockford, Ill., will take the field at Crum Stadium on the second and final night of the Drum Corps International's Eastern Classic.

East Allen Ambulance Corps Capt. Richard Holub (left) and President Larry Gangewere talk outside the new Ambulance Corps building, which was dedicated yesterday. The Route 329 facility was constructed mostly by corps members. They saved about $110,000 by doing most of the work themselves.

The dream of the East Allen Township Volunteer Ambulance Corps will become real at 2 p.m. Sunday when it dedicates its new headquarters. And the corps members, who have been seeking their own facility since 1980, are delighted. "It's been a long summer (filled with) a lot of hard work," but it has been time well spent, said Carol Smith, corps spokeswoman. The 2,500-square-foot three-bay brick building with attached office is on about three acres on Route 329 about a mile west of the township building.

Pennsylvania Labor Industry Secretary Johnny J. Butler announced the release of $1.3 million in state funds for 16 Pennsylvania Conservation Corps (PCC) projects. The following parks in the area received grants: Carbon County -- $85,000 for work at Mauch Chunk Lake Park. Corps members will construct three modern cabins, 12 tent-camping sites and an access road. Lehigh County -- $76,250 to begin developing a new park near the Borough of Egypt. Corps members will clear brush and debris, stabilize stream banks, improve drainage, plant vegetation and build foot bridges, benches and bird boxes.

Allentown, Carbon County and Towamencin Township are among 10 municipalities that will share $1.05 million in Pennsylvania Conservation Corps grants to support conservation, recreation and urban revitalization projects. Labor and Industry Secretary Johnny J. Butler announced the awards this week. The projects are scheduled to begin July 1 and run a year. Each will enroll a crew of five and a crew leader. Allentown will receive $105,462 for work at Mosser Woods and Lehigh Mountain.

Allentown, Carbon County and Towamencin Township are among 10 government recipients that will share $1.05 million in Pennsylvania Conservation Corps grants to support conservation, recreation and urban revitalization projects. Allentown will receive $105,462 for work at Mosser Woods on the city's East Side and Lehigh Mountain. Corps members will develop trails and interpretive areas, construct benches and signs, and install wildlife nesting boxes. Carbon County will get $106,266 for work at Mauch Chunk Lake Park.

Labor and Industry Secretary Johnny J. Butler on Thursday announced more than $1.4 million in state funding for 18 Pennsylvania Conservation Corps projects for 2000. Each project will enroll a crew of five members and one crew leader. Projects will begin July 1 and end June 30, 2001. Local projects include: Carbon County: $85,000 for work at Mauch Chunk Lake Park to improve trails and construct four log cabins and a raptor-cage building; $65,000 for work at Lehigh Canal Park to build a rustic shelter and a bridge, restore old stonework, improve accessibility and clean, identify and label historic artifacts.

Bucks County's Department of Health is looking for volunteers to assist in the event of a public health disaster such as a bioterrorism attack, the outbreak of an infectious disease epidemic, a chemical spill or the contamination of the water supply. Volunteers will be part of the newly formed Bucks County Medical Reserve Corps. "In 2004, the Health Department and the Bucks County Emergency Management Agency got together and decided to form the corps," said Bruce Ugbode, coordinator of the county's Bioterrorism Program, which was created in 2002 after the release of anthrax in several cities the previous year.

Some of the week's top stories: BUCKS, MONTGOMERY, BERKS New archbishop installed: Archbishop Justin Francis Rigali was installed Tuesday as the archbishop of Philadelphia, reaching out to the Catholic archdiocese's diverse community and hoping to build on the 15-year reign of his predecessor and friend Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua. About 1,700 people filled the pews of the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul for the installation. BETHLEHEM AREA Burned man identified: Nine days after a court ordered him to stay away from his wife and family, Joginder Singh doused himself with 33 cents worth of gasoline outside their south Bethlehem apartment and set himself on fire, authorities said Monday.

By Sara J. Jurasits Special to The Morning Call - Freelance | October 10, 2003

Nazareth Volunteer Ambulance Corps members got more answers in the past few days than they have in the past few months about plans for new management and the future direction of the unit. Volunteers and employees have complained to Borough Council that since Emergency Services Director RuthMary Male retired May 1, they have been turned away from closed board meetings and generally left in the dark over board and bylaw changes they believe were made illegally, without any votes or input from corps members.

The Lehigh Valley Knights Drum and Bugle Corps lost about $80,000 in drum equipment Thursday morning when a pickup truck and the trailer it was pulling flipped over near the Krumsville exit on Interstate 78 in Berks County. No police information was available. The truck and trailer carrying the instruments were headed to the group's first competition of the season at the Tidewater Summer Games in Chesapeake, Va., near Norfolk. The group was able to go on as scheduled Thursday night, using equipment borrowed from other groups at the show.

The Pennsylvania Conservation Corps is looking for young people to earn money, serve the community and learn about careers in museum studies while working on a special project at Washington Crossing Historic Park. The crew will care for artifact collections and historic houses near the spot where, 227 years ago, George Washington led the Continental Army across the Delaware River and changed the course of the Revolutionary War. Men and women between 18 and 25 are eligible to take part in this and other Pennsylvania Conservation Corps programs in conservation, recreation and historical preservation projects.

Carbon County will get $85,000 in state money to build four more rental cabins at Mauch Chunk Lake Park and do landscaping work at the park and along the Switchback Gravity Railroad, officials announced Monday. Also, Lehighton will get an $81,987 grant for work along Lehigh Canal. The grants were among $1.3 million in state funding for 16 Pennsylvania Conservation Corps projects announced on Monday by state Labor and Industry Secretary Johnny J. Butler. Cabins at the park, which hold as many as six people, have become more popular than traditional camp sites and routinely are booked on weekends from mid-April through the end of October.

By ALYCE TEMPLETON Special to The Morning Call - Freelance | December 9, 2001

In 1987, the Peace Corps sent a nine-person film crew from San Francisco to Pen Argyl to make part of a video that is still being shown to Peace Corp Volunteers before they return home from 64 developing countries. The film, entitled "Bringing the World Home" encourages Peace Corp Volunteers to keep on volunteering at home. In Wind Gap they filmed Louis Felker's sixth grade studying about the cultures and problems of the newly independent countries of Africa and raising funds to help build Peace Corps schools there.

Labor and Industry Secretary Johnny J. Butler on Thursday announced more than $1.4 million in state funding for 18 Pennsylvania Conservation Corps projects for 2000. Each project will enroll a crew of five members and one crew leader. Projects will begin July 1 and end June 30, 2001. Local projects include: Carbon County: $85,000 for work at Mauch Chunk Lake Park to improve trails and construct four log cabins and a raptor-cage building; $65,000 for work at Lehigh Canal Park to build a rustic shelter and a bridge, restore old stonework, improve accessibility and clean, identify and label historic artifacts.